Remember Mary Jo

Mary Jo Kopechne: July 26, 1940 – July 18, 1969

Ted Kennedy not in immediate danger; seizure cause sought

By Peter Schworm and Matt Viser, Globe Staff

Senator Edward M. Kennedy was hospitalized today after suffering a seizure, triggering shock in the political world and drawing an outpouring of support from across the nation and the ideological spectrum.

The 76-year-old Democrat, a tireless advocate for liberal causes and the surviving patriarch of the storied Kennedy political dynasty, was talkative and joking with family members this afternoon, friends and associates said. His condition was considered serious, they said, but his life did not appear to be in imminent danger.

It's just too bad Mary Jo Kopechne cannot be said to be "joking with family members this afternoon," since on July 18, 1969, Senator Ted Kennedy's drunken reckless driving took the life of campaign aide Kopechne.

Here's a sketch of the position of Mary Jo's body according to a description of the recovery diver John Caraar. It has been spectulated that Kopechne may have lived for as long as two hours after the car she and Kennedy were in careened over the Lake Chappaquiddick bridge.

Here's Kenedy's car as it was removed from Poucha Pond.

Mary Jo Kopechne's gravesite

Visit http://www.ytedk.com/ for an exhaustive profile on Ted Kennedy's cowardice.